> -----Original Message----- > From: J. McRee Elrod [mailto:m...@slc.bc.ca] > Sent: November 9, 2011 11:42 AM > To: Brenndorfer, Thomas > Cc: RDA-L@listserv.lac-bac.gc.ca > Subject: Re: [RDA-L] Offlist reactions to the LC Bibliographic Framework > statement > > > Thomas said: > > >An artist responsible for the artistic content of the work would > >always form part of the authorized access point for the work. > > In terms of exhibition catalogues, the artist would be main entry if > reproductions exceed text, but he text author (curator) would be main > entry if text exceeds reproductions. I assume this is true for RDA as > it is for AACR2. > > Our art library clients will not accept that. From their point of > few, the amount of text is irrelevant. Perhaps this is something to > be taken up in a special genre manual? >
One difference in RDA is that if the artist is secondary to the author of the text, the artist is still considered a "creator" of the work, even though the writer of the text is given prominence in the authorized access point for the work. In MARC, there is only the awkward split between 100 and 700 fields, with optional added relationship designators, to distinguish roles and relationships. Dumping the artist in a 700 field, amongst other names which are connected to the expression or manifestation, is one thing that makes MARC less amenable to the type of display and relationship structures used in many data systems. In RDA, there can be several creators or other persons associated with the work specifically designated as such. Only one creator can be used in the formation of an authorized access point (barring the alternative in RDA 6.27.1.3 which allows for all creators to be included as part of the authorized access point for the work). But RDA is written around the idea that the authorized access point for a work (aka "main entry") is only one of many ways to identify a work, and so a switch in thinking is required in moving from worrying about the right main entry (and creating implicit, seemingly arbitrary, or hard to discern relationships) to thinking of the right kind of relationships to make in a thorough and exacting way first, with the main entry decision as a follow-up only, so as to maintain compatibility in those systems that rely heavily on the main entry. Basically RDA separates out the process of establishing relationships from the process of creating an authorized access point for the work. Future displays may be able to make use of that distinction and the information in RDA records to prioritize certain elements, such as the designator "artist", to suit the needs of users more precisely. Thomas Brenndorfer Guelph Public Library
